Who Does God Want You to Be?

Who is it you want to be? More importantly, who is it God wants you to be? If the answers to both questions are not aligned, you are setting yourself up for a life of frustration and emptiness. No matter how far you advance on your dream of becoming who you want to be, if it isn’t the person God wants you to be, there will always be a gnawing hole inside. There will be an ache none of your success can fill.

We were designed and created to serve and love God, to live in relationship with Him. Our thoughts were meant to be as His thoughts, our actions and motivations the same as His. Until we reconcile who God wants us to be, we will never become who we truly desire to be.

Somewhere along the way we lost sight of God and began to focus squarely on ourselves. Pride entered our world in the Garden of Eden and has expanded its insidious influence ever since. We are all about getting more for ourselves, climbing higher up the ladder of success, and doing whatever it takes to make us happy. This is not how we were designed. God created us to look like Himself. How does that play out for humans? How do we mirror God in our lives? Jesus said if we had seen Him, we had seen the Father (John 14:9). Therefore, if we want our lives to be One with God, we need to live as Jesus lived.

I’ve often been asked, “Doesn’t God want me to be happy?” I’ve heard countless sermons and read numerous books on why and how Christians should be happy. The problem is I can’t find any Scripture to back up that premise. I do believe God wants us to be joyful. There’s an important distinction between those two words. Saying we should be joyful instead of happy is more than semantics. Countless places in the Bible we are told to rejoice in the Lord. Our joy comes from our relationship with God. Happiness is more about the state of ourselves. Joy is all about God.

Beyond being joyful, who does God want you to be? He wants you to live like Jesus. He wants your life to attract others to Him, not to distract them from His goodness and love. We’re called to serve the needs of others (Matthew 25:31-46). Our mission is never about getting ahead, but rather to come along from behind (Mark 9:35). We are to serve, not seek to be served.

This life isn’t about you. It’s not about who you can become so others might notice. It’s all about God and becoming the person He created you to be. Until we get out of our own way, we’ll continue to struggle and stand in the way of others coming to Him. That’s not the life we want to live. It’s not the story we want our lives to tell. Who does God want you to be? He wants you to be someone who follows hard after Him regardless of what else is going on. He wants you to be like Jesus.